This invention relates generally to an apparatus and process for sealing a container and, more particularly, to an apparatus and process to heat-seal a glass container having an open top-end portion formed of glass which absorbs radiation in the infrared region of the spectrum. The glass containers preferably have a breakaway area which can readily be broken to open the container without breaking the remainder of the container. The breakaway area is generally spaced sufficiently far from the heat-sealable area to avoid any substantial thermal dissipation of the mechanical stresses in the glass which serve to weaken the glass in the breakaway area.
Glass containers are desirably used to transport biological materials, e.g., tissue samples and blood samples, to laboratories for testing. There is, of course, the danger that some of the biological material will be accidentally spilled, resulting in pollution of the environment and/or endangering personnel. To minimize the risk of the escape of biological materials, it is desirable that the glass containers in which they are stored be capable of being hermetically heat-sealed, i.e., melted shut. However, in most applications, the heat-sealing of glass containers for biological materials has been impractical for a number of reasons. One reason was that the staff in physicians' offices and medical clinics were not in general sufficiently familiar with the heat-sealing techniques. Consequently, the results achieved would depend in large measure on the skill of the operators. Also, the high temperature needed to heat-seal conventional glass containers often results in damage to or destruction of the biological materials in the container. Additionally, the sealing with a burner by unskilled persons often results in nonuniform containers. This makes it difficult to pack the containers for transport. More importantly, when the heat treatment does not result in a perfect hermetic closure of the container, contagious biological materials may escape and pose a danger to personnel.